3月28日的《科學(xué)》（Science）雜志報(bào)道說，研究人員已經(jīng)破解了一種有關(guān)生物材料的謎團(tuán)——即魷魚是如何用其尖利如刀的喙?fàn)钭靵韨麣埰浍C物但又不損害其喙?fàn)钭焖度氲募∪饨M織,？魷魚喙?fàn)钭焖媾R的設(shè)計(jì)上的難題與無柄刀子相同,，因?yàn)槿藗兒茈y在不割傷自己的情況下來使用無柄的刀子。洪堡巨魷（Dosidicus gigas）的喙?fàn)钭焓且阎耐耆珵橛袡C(jī)材料組成的最堅(jiān)硬的物質(zhì)之一,，用該喙?fàn)钭靵頁舸颢C物會(huì)將相當(dāng)巨大的力量傳導(dǎo)到其自身維系喙?fàn)钭斓能浗M織上,。
根據(jù)Ali Miserez及其同事披露，該魷魚的喙?fàn)钭熘阅軌驊?yīng)付這些作用力原因在于,，其切割端雖然既堅(jiān)且硬但是它在越靠近喙?fàn)钭旄街娜彳浖∪饨M織時(shí),，它會(huì)逐漸變得越來越柔軟且其可彎曲性也越來越大。研究人員非常費(fèi)力地將喙?fàn)钭斓拿恳还?jié)段的特定化學(xué)組成進(jìn)行了測定,，并在每一點(diǎn)上將其與喙?fàn)钭斓牧W(xué)性質(zhì)進(jìn)行配對(duì),。控制喙?fàn)钭斓膱?jiān)硬程度是通過幾丁質(zhì),、水,、富含組氨酸的蛋白質(zhì)及一種叫做Dopa的化合物的比例變化來實(shí)現(xiàn)的。在一則相關(guān)的Perspective中,，Phillip Messersmith探討了Dopa在其他生物結(jié)構(gòu)中的作用,，以及研究人員為什么有興趣在人工合成的材料中使用模擬生物材料性質(zhì)的化合物。（來源：EurekAlert!中文版）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
（Science）,，Vol. 319. no. 5871, pp. 1816 - 1819,，Ali Miserez，J. Herbert Waite
The Transition from Stiff to Compliant Materials in Squid Beaks
Ali Miserez,1,2,3 Todd Schneberk,2,3 Chengjun Sun,2,3 Frank W. Zok,1* J. Herbert Waite2,3*
The beak of the Humboldt squid Dosidicus gigas represents one of the hardest and stiffest wholly organic materials known. As it is deeply embedded within the soft buccal envelope, the manner in which impact forces are transmitted between beak and envelope is a matter of considerable scientific interest. Here, we show that the hydrated beak exhibits a large stiffness gradient, spanning two orders of magnitude from the tip to the base. This gradient is correlated with a chemical gradient involving mixtures of chitin, water, and His-rich proteins that contain 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine (dopa) and undergo extensive stabilization by histidyl-dopa cross-link formation. These findings may serve as a foundation for identifying design principles for attaching mechanically mismatched materials in engineering and biological applications.
1 Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
2 Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
3 Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
